User blog:DaPhishGuy/The Greenstone

The Greenstone

Chapter One
Nobody knew when or by whom the large stone castle was built, but none really cared. The important thing was that it was a remarkable fortification, and any creature would be lucky to live in it. The woodlanders saw it as a peaceful home, where they would be free of any dangers that they might encounter in the forest of Goldtree. The less peaceful inhabitants of the forest saw it as a fortress, where an army could rule over the entire land with ease and efficiency, conquering and pillaging their surroundings. The castle soon became inhabited by a small number of woodlanders. Mice, squirrels, moles and the like. They lived tranquilly for only a short time before their existence at the castle was threatened by a creature far more vicious and bloodthirsty than any of them had ever imagined.

A wolf, by the name of Chzuc the Raider came to the forest of Goldtree and witnessed awestruck the power and supremacy of the castle. Within the first few seconds of spying it, all that was set on his mind was his immense longing for this stronghold, and whirling through his mind already were cruel ideas and plans on how to obtain it. In Chzuc’s mind, any creature who owned such a place must be a fearsome warrior with a mighty army, just as he was, so directly attacking the castle was not the first plan he wished to entertain. A far more devious scheme was forming in the dark recesses of his mind. In a night when the moon was fully waned, Chzuc sent a silent poisoner into the castle. A deadly mixture of poisonous powders were sprinkled onto the sleeping woodlanders food and drink. The next morning approximately one hour after the creatures had breakfast, they all began feeling quite sick. Within the next hour every living creature in the castle succumbed to the poison and died. Chzuc the Raider strode into the grounds of the castle, admiring the artistry of the statues and walls of the great establishment. He and his Horde quickly settled in, disposing of the bodies of the castle’s previous occupants in a very brutal fashion. None of the Horde went hungry that night.

However, unbeknownst to Chzuc, a young strong squirrel who had consumed a smaller amount of poison than the others had survived the massacre, and escaped the castle without being spotted. Through this young creature, news of the wolf and his army quickly spred through the rest of the forest. Many woodlanders were so frightened they fled the forest to find a new home elsewhere, but the strong of heart stayed and formed a massive army of able fighters, mainly compromised of a significantly sized group of squirrels from the east, and a larger still holt of otters from the southwest. The squirrels and otters, together with a motley alliance of other woodlanders whom had stayed in the forest, attacked Chzuc’s castle by surprise. The War for Goldtree raged for seasons upon seasons until the hero of the Woodlanders, an otter by the name of Tidelo, fought sword to sword with Chzuc, and slayed the malevolent wolf. The remainder of the Horde fled to the Northlands, where they had came from. After this great victory and an even greater celebration feast, the squirrels and a few other miscellaneous creatures moved into the now vacant castle. The rest of the creatures began the long walk back home.

The castle, under the reign of a squirrel King and Queen, saw many seasons of peace after the War. Many, many generations passed until another cold-hearted wolf from the Northlands arrived in Goldtree Forest. This wolf was a descendant of Chzuc the Raider, who had heard through the old one’s tales about what had happened to his ancestor. This was the first time anybeast with a horde and foul intentions had ever gone anywhere near Goldtree Forest since the war. It was often rumored that the castle, now called Drelyn, was guarded by the mightiest army that had ever existed. This was sadly untrue, as the many seasons of peaceful living had changed the warrior squirrels into a pacific monarchy. If it were not for the rumors, the castle Drelyn would have been taken many seasons before this new wolf arrived. This wolf, Scathe the Ravager, came for three things. Revenge against the woodlanders, the castle Drelyn, and something very special to the wolves. A large emerald called the Greenstone. The Greenstone was a symbol of power amongst the wolves. If a wolf leader did not possess the Greenstone, he was not accepted as a full leader. In the War, the Greenstone was lost to the Woodlanders. Scathe was determined to get it back, no matter what it took. He knew somewhere in Goldtree Forest he would find the Greenstone, whether it lay in Castle Drelyn with the squirrels or amongst the otters in their Holt. He arrived at the castle in a cool spring morning. Hidden in the trees, Scathe the Ravager spoke to his Horde.

“Captains! Take a third of the soldiers each and surround the castle. I will go to the main entrance and speak to the leader of these ineffectual squirrels. If he surrenders unconditionally, as I will demand from him, stay in your positions. Once everybeast that was in the castle gets out, slaughter them all. We do not want them to alert the whole forest of what has happened. If the King does not surrender, it will be war. We greatly outnumber these pitiful woodlanders, it will not be a challenge. Go!”

His three captains, Torilis the weasel, Chark the stoat, and Deadeye the rat began dividing up the army into three main bodies. A small hunchbacked rat crept slowly up to Scathe.

“Heh, heh, heh. Your plan is faultless. This castle will be ours...” he muttered.

Scathe made as to put his arm around the rat affectionately, then grabbed his neck and squeezed forcefully.

“This castle will not be ours, it will be mine! Do not forget yourself, Gurch. You may be my advisor, but you are by no means my partner, or anything of the sort.”

He released Gurch and watched amused as the rat choked for breath.

“Chaaaaak! ‘M sorry, Chief. Forgot meself. Yer th’ Chief. Castle’ll be yer’s.” Gurch spluttered.

Scathe smiled. “That it will.”

The wolf strode up to the main gate to the castle grounds. He had to call quite a few times before a droopy-eyed squirrel appeared at the top of the wall.

“Hmhuh? What do you want?” the squirrel questioned.

Being a young creature and not familiar with all of the different creatures of the land, he was not aware that Scathe was a wolf, something that would make alarm bells ring in the head of any educated squirrel.

“I would like to talk to your king. I have very important business to discuss.” Scathe replied.

“’Mportant business? What kinda business?”

"I will discuss that with your king only. Bring him here."

"Who're you, then?"

The squirrel was beginning to try Scathe's small supply of patience. "That does not concern you. Bring your king here now or I shall be forced to do something rather rash." Scathe said grinning.

"What're you sayin' there, mister?" the squirrel questioned.

"I am saying that there are quite a few arrows stringed and aimed directly at your stupid little head. Go, get your king now."

The squirrel was clearly very taken aback by Scathe's direct threat. He stumbled and ran inside the walls of the castle. Scathe could hear him yelling.

"Hey! Anyone! There's somebeast at th' door, an' he ain't the friendliest o' sorts, neither! Threatened t' shoot me n' th' head, he did! Want's to talk to the' king!"

Soon an older looking squirrel came outside on the walls. He looked down at Scathe with a stern look.

"So, is what my young friend told me true? You threatened him for his life?" the squirrel inquired.

"Oh, yes, I certainly did. You are the king of this castle, am I right?" Scathe replied.

"No, I'm not. If what y' said is true, y' got somebeasts in the woods aimin' arrows at me right now. The king could never be put in such danger."

Scathe lowered his eyebrow. "Then who are you who is so undeterred by death?"

"I am the bodyguard to the king. I will never allow him to be in danger. I am willing to risk my life on that promise."

"Must be hard, protecting the king all by yourself."

"Nah, everybeast would protect 'im, I'm just the only bodyguard." the squirrel said without thinking. "Hey! Don't ya' try to get off subject here. Y' can't make death threats and 'spect to speak t' the king. Get off this land without any delay of any sort. Get you an' your otherbeasts goin' sharpish!"

Scathe smiled. "The only bodyguard of the king, huh? Must mean you're the only one with weapons training or anything warriorlike, right? Well, I must say, I do take to warriors rather well. We get on well, warriors and I, if we are not on separate sides. I respect you verily. 'Tis really a shame I must kill you so suddenly, for I would like to face you in battle."

Scathe raised a clenched paw, and before the squirrel had time to rush back inside, three arrows whizzed from three different directions in the forest and pierced him in the head, neck, and chest. He fell to the floor.

Scathe shouted, "Now, I know you bunch inside can hear me! Listen well, now! I have killed this one out here, and I will kill anybeast who comes out here other than the king! I am through with this nonsense! Let me speak to the king or you will not get to make an imperative decision. And you will want to make this decision if you want to live!”

It took a few moments before the door opened again. This time, an old, grey squirrel in a sleeping robe stepped out. He wore a silver crown upon his head.

Scathe laughed, “Ha! Had a good sleep, King? Seeing as you are the king, I suppose? I wouldn’t want to waste any more arrows.”

The old squirrel looked down at Scathe with an air of hatred. “You have killed and threatened to kill peaceful creatures, wolf! How could you have a good humor about this? It is beyond me how creatures like you can live with your consciences. I am King Agarnu of Drelyn, and I do not think it neccesary to ask you what this ‘business’ of yours is. You want the castle, correct? And you have already shown you will do anything to get it. But this castle has belonged to the squirrels for generations upon generations. Why do you think you will succeed in fighting us if that other cruel wolf such a long time ago was defeated? He made the mistake of fighting against the castle Drelyn and lost miserably. Leave, wolf, before you make the same mistake, and never come back to the forest of Goldtree.”

Scathe was in a fit of silent laughter. Regaining his composure, he addressed Agarnu.

“You lie, King Agarnu of Drelyn! You may have fooled other daft vermin hordes with that lie, but it will not fool Scathe the Ravager! My ancestor, Chzuc the Raider, was not defeated by the squirrels alone! The squirrels were not even near the castle when he took it! The only way Chzuc was defeated was when the woodlanders made an army far bigger than his. Remember the otters? Yes, that holt of otters, what would the squirrels do without them? In fact, without them, the woodlanders would not have won the war, which was indeed a fluke! Yes, I do like the sound of that. The woodlander’s victory was a fluke! You do not have any warriors here. You are peacable tree-jumpers, and that is all Drelyn has been for years.”

Agarnu pounded his paw against battlement. "The woodlanders would have defeated that cowardly wolf if they were outnumbered by the hundred! But I am not out here on this cold morning to argue about the past with a creature like yourself. I am here to tell you to leave!"

Scathe laughed once again. "Why," he chuckled, "why would I ever want to leave such a place as this? You don't have an army, unlike I, so I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to take it from you. What do you think about that, King Agarnu of Drelyn? Oh, but soon Drelyn will be a thing of the past, and this castle will have a new ruler, and a new meaning to the woodlanders of Goldtree. No longer will it be a place of peace and prosperity, it will be a place of an ever-growing empire, led by myself, that will expand until it cannot any longer, and then I will have absolute power. But I am not a barbarian. I only killed that squirrel, your bodyguard, because it was necessary. I never like to slaughter when I can take captives and make them do my bidding. So I am going to ask you a question that you are going to answer here and now. No going and consorting with those inside, no, the fate of your monarchy will be deciding by you at this very minute. Would you like to surrender now, or do the foolhardy thing and fight? Either way many of your creatures will die. If you surrender I am certainly not going to keep you all as slaves, and I am most certainly not going to let you go free. I want no ends not tied. If you fight, I will make sure that every living creature inside dies, one way or another. Now, King Agarnu of Drelyn, choose and make history."

Agarnu was utterly petrified, although he made a strong face against Scathe. "I am not going to play your little game, murderer!"

Scathe frowned. "Pity, I would've liked the entertainment. Now I must choose. Would you really like that, King? Would you like me to choose what happens to your kingdom?"

"You have no power here!"

"I am about to prove you very wrong."

"Castle Drelyn will never be defeated by the likes of you!"

"I'm not sure you are realizing the gravity of your situation. You see, I have a rather large army in the woods behind me. At the raise of my paw, my best archer will shoot an arrow into your thick skull. I am going to take you not answering my question as a surrender. I will kill some of you and keep the rest as slaves."

Agarnu was furious. "You have no right to do anything of the sort!"

Scathe laughed once more. "Maybe not, but I simply don't care."

He raised his paw.